Hi, My Name is Bernie

There's a new Food Hall in town and it is called "My South Hall".  It is tucked in a small nondescript corner of S'Maison. The place itself is so nondescript that I didn't even noticed it while walking around the mall. My South Hall is actually composed of several separate stalls offering a variety of food and drink choices. The stalls that caught my attention are: ROAST'D - the stall that offers various traditional Chinese roasts (chicken, duck & pork). Seoul Hotpot - for Korean-inspired hotpot Golden Treasures - offers dimsum and noodles. Tabemashou - for diners craving for Japanese dishes. They also have a juice bar and a milk tea place. I haven't tried any of places there but I'm sure it won't be long before I do.

I had lunch at Mala Sichuan Cuisine and ordered their Beef Ramen.  The broth is quite flavorful but the chef may have ignored my request for a mild dish. The beef topping is not "advertised" since all I got was a few bits of meat (see pic below). Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The soup was so spicy that I felt the "need" to get something sweet to cap off the meal.  I went to the Yamato Bakery Cafe to get a Raspberry Danish and coffee.  What a way to end a lunchtime! Till the next meal!

This place has recently opened at the MET Live mall.  The original Persia Grill in the area was located at a the Blue Bay mall across the street but I guess that location was less than ideal because it was hidden from the usual crowd.  a This time, I ordered their Beef Kebab Kubideh and Shakshuka as appetizer.  The Shakshuka is served with one Pita Bread which, in my opinion, is not enough for the serving.  The tomato sauce base of the Shakshuka is really nice, not as sour as other Shakshukas I had in other similar restaurants.  The Kubideh was served with buttered rice and was as good as any other Kubideh.  Special mention on their White (garlic) and Red (chili) sauce -- they go really well with all the dishes served in this restaurant. I'm so glad that there is another lunch option for me at work and I see myself coming back to Persia Grill in the coming weeks.

Originally posted December 30, 2019 Long weekends often gives me a bad case of cabin fever.  So right smack in the middle of the Holiday break, I brought my wifey and kiddo to the Powerplan Mall Rockwell for a quick lunch.  I originally planned to have our meal at The Grid Food Market but I was overwhelmed by the number of choices there, We instead opted to lunch at Mighty Quinn's .  We all ordered their "Meat Pairings" which is a choice of two mains plus two side dishes,  The choice for the mains are brisket, burnt ends, spare ribs, roast chicken, pork belly and pulled pork..  The choice for the sides are broccoli salad, loaded baked potato, sweet potato casserole, potato salad and brisket chilli. Sad to say, the mains and the sides all tasted unremarkable except for the Burnt Ends.  The sides are actually tastier than the meats.  I guess that will be the last time that I'll be dining at Mighty Quinn's.

Originally posted October 17, 2019 I visit Meat Plus Cafe at MOA whenever I feel the need to rejuvenate myself with a big slab of quality meat.  The one pictured above came straight from Meat Plus' freezer and cooked with a special instruction for the chefto trim off the fat from the steak and cook it well done while keeping the rest of the steak Medium Rare.  The end result is a mouth-watering tender steak that is both tender and juicy.  The well-done fat at the side was sinfully glorious and provided a great counterpoint to the crispy fries that came with the meal.  The best part of the meal?  It costs dramatically less than what I would've been charged if I order the same thing at either Outback or Fridays. Overall verdict: Makes it worth the effort to visit Mall of Asia.

My friend Debbie, a classmate from way back in Elementrary and High School invited me again to their town fiesta at Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas City.  Having previously visited their place, I promptly brought wifey and kiddo with me and had lunch there. The visit was capped by a sumptuous lunch and the main highlight of the meal was a boneless lechon by Dante's Lechon de Kahoy . As with our other visits, I was still in awe at the place, the beauty of which is accentuated by the cool Tagaytay-level cool wind. To get a feel of the place, just click on the video above. A day well spent with my family and friend at a very relaxing place.

Originally reviewed on September 4, 2019 I have no great love for the recent influx of Chinese POGO workers in the country today. However, there is one side effect of their diaspora that I am crazy for. MALA! A restaurant recently opened and its specialty is the Szechuan Hotpot. It is called Sichu Malatang Hotpot . Being the adventurous eater that I am, I tried it and despite its thermonuclear heat, it was absolutely delicious! Diners choose the contents of their hotpot and gives it to the cashier where it is weighed. Cost of hte hotpot will depend on the weight of the ingredients. Then the cashier will ask if it will be cooked as “dry” or as a soup. The “dry” version is quite spicy by default. However the soup's spicinesss level can be adjusted. They always end up serving a flavorful bowl of freshly cooked soup the taste of which is reminiscent of the Tantanmen broth of popular ramen shops. Overall taste of the dish will depend on what meat, seafood and vegetable you choo